While IANAL, here's a part of our standard contract that deals with this:<br>---<br><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5Calex%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5Calex%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5Calex%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><style>
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<p class="Default" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><u><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Proprietary
Rights</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">. </span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The Drupal software programs
used by Consultant Firm, and all of the associated modules and themes installed
on the Company Website are licensed under a GNU General Public License, and all
code and techniques shall be licensed as the same and may be submitted back to
the Drupal software community as the Consultant Firm sees fit. Nothing in this
Agreement shall preclude the Consultant Firm from using in any manner or for
any purpose it deems necessary the know-how, techniques or procedures acquired
or used by Consultant Firm in the performance of the Website Services (the
"<u>Drupal-Related Techniques and Procedures</u>"), and same shall
remain Consultant Firm's sole and exclusive intellectual property. <span style=""> </span>To the extent necessary for operation of the
Company Website, the Consultant Firm grants to the Company a non-exclusive and
non-transferrable license to use the Drupal-Related Techniques and Procedures.</span></p>
---<br><br>In my opinion, a client that ask for IP rights over your Drupal related work is equivalent to an author writing<i> The Best Book of all Time</i> on MS Office and then claiming that, because of their brilliant writing, they now own Office and everyone who uses Office must now pay them a royalty. They own the site, but the tools aren't theirs, and if they need IP rights over everything that runs their site/application then they shouldn't use Open Source. <br>
<br clear="all">--<br>Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg<br>Partner | Business Lead<br>Zivtech, LLC<br><a href="http://zivtech.com">http://zivtech.com</a><br><a href="mailto:alex@zivtech.com">alex@zivtech.com</a><br>office: (267) 940-7737<br>
cell: (215) 866-8956<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Apr 24, 2010 at 7:48 AM, Jeremy Weiss <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:eccentric.one@gmail.com">eccentric.one@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">From
Circular 9, by the US Copyright Office (</span><cite>www.<b>copyright</b>.gov/circs/circ09.pdf</cite><span style="font-size: 11pt;">)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Under the 1976 Copyright Act as amended
(title 17 of the United States Code),</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">a work is protected by copyright from the
time it is created in a fixed form. In</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">other words, when a work is written down or
otherwise set into tangible form,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">the copyright immediately becomes the
property of the author who created it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Only the author or those deriving their
rights from the author can rightfully</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">claim copyright.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Although the general rule is that the person
who creates a work is the author</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">of that work, there is an exception to that
principle: the copyright law defines a</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">category of works called “works made for
hire.” If a work is “made for hire,” the</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">employer, and not the employee, is considered
the author. The employer may</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">be a firm, an organization, or an individual.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To understand the complex concept of a work
made for hire, it is necessary</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">to refer not only to the statutory definition
but also to its interpretation in cases</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">decided by courts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Basically,
I've always been told by various attorney's that unless my agreement with a
client specifically stated that it wasn't a work for made for hire situation,
then it was. YMMV, IANAL, etc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">-jeremy
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<div style="border-width: medium medium medium 1.5pt; border-style: none none none solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color blue; padding: 0in 0in 0in 4pt;">
<div>
<div style="border-width: 1pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: rgb(181, 196, 223) -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color; padding: 3pt 0in 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<a href="mailto:consulting-bounces@drupal.org" target="_blank">consulting-bounces@drupal.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:consulting-bounces@drupal.org" target="_blank">consulting-bounces@drupal.org</a>] <b>On
Behalf Of </b>George Lee<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, April 24, 2010 7:55 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:consulting@drupal.org" target="_blank">consulting@drupal.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [consulting] Copyright</span></p>
</div>
</div><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi,<br>
<br>
When folks are doing contract work developing modules, is it typical to retain
copyright over code or to give copyright to the folks who are contracting out
to you? Do folks have legal contract language for both scenarios?<br>
<br>
Peace, community, justice,<br>
- George</p>
</div></div></div>
</div>
</div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br>